Of course I did not mean 100% of alcohol - unless you want to mummify the
animal... I use only 30% of alcohol so it will make easier to remove the
soft parts later.
There is no miracle formula (yet) to remove animal from their shells. What I
know is in some cases the shells can stink for years and no matter what you
do it gets worse (is this a curse on collectors?...).
Once a customer ordered a Cassis tuberosa and I just had smelly ones. He
said there was no problem since he thought he could clean it. Well, Cassis
tuberosa is one of the worse shells ever to clean and I explained it to him.
He wanted it anyway... I sent the shell and after he got it he said he just
had the shell for two days in bleach and the smell was gone! He wrote to me
on the day he removed the shell from bleach. I told him to write to me after
two days. The smell was back, worse than before!

About formaldehyde, it can't be used in shinny shells (I tried once in small
cowries and they were destroyed). The idea of alcohol diluted is to let the
shell rot a little bit but not enough to destroy the shell and I have been
using it in the past 15 years in my trips. You must try all different ways
to clean the animal and I always pay attention to any possible tip anyone
gives me. Microwave is good in some cases - but never use it if the animal
is rotten. I did that when I was a kid and I had to hide from my mother for
a long time...

Anyway, I still think the best way to clean shells is the way I use: hire
someone else to do it! (just kidding...)


Marcus

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